Our Last Moments
by invisibilitea
Summary: Factley fluff, gets kind of sad. Wheatley and Craig spend a few minutes together during the core transfer, after the woman in orange attaches the Fact Core to Wheatley.


**Disclaimer: I own nothing used or mentioned in this story, nor do I make any sort of profit off of it.**

 **Enjoy.**

 **Our Last Moments**

The Fact Core was unlike any other artificial intelligence made by Aperture Science.

He remembered the entirety of his human life, and it hurt.

He could describe any moment in his human life with frightening accuracy, if he was asked.

Otherwise, he would just spout random facts, most of which weren't true. This is what his life had consisted of for the past half-century.

The Fact Core's two companions, however, could only remember certain things.

For example, the Adventure Core could only remember his name, and the Space Core could remember his love for space.

They had been taken before him. The corrupted core cage was anything but pleasant, and they were lucky to get out. He hadn't thought that he would be taken too.

A mechanical hand dropped down from a hatch in the ceiling before clasping around him and ascending back up.

He was dropped into the Central Core Chamber, where he was plucked from the grasp of the arm by a woman clad in an orange jumpsuit. One of the test subjects.

Instead of Miss Caroline, or rather the Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System, there was a core with a blue optic, appearance not unlike his own.

He was attached to this new central core, and the Fact Core felt the static go through him, before everything went dark.

The Fact core was in a room. White walls, white floor, white ceiling. He looked down, expecting to see the figure of the metal ball, but instead saw something else.

He was human. Black pants, black shoes, white shirt, gray sweater vest, pink tie, long white lab coat. He ran a hand through his hair, the familiar feeling comforting him. It was his. He was once again, himself.

"Craig?"

A sharp, clear British-sounding voice rang through the room. The core's eyes widened at the name. It was _his_. His eyes flicked around the room, looking for the source of the voice. His eyes eventually landed on a figure in one corner of the room. The figure had his knees pulled to his chest, head turned upward to stare at him.

Craig recognized him immediately.

"Wheatley," he breathed, "I should have known,"

He walked over to the hunched figure, and helped him up. Wheatley looked exactly how he did all of those years ago. Messy dirty-blonde hair, thick-framed glasses, piercing blue irises, freakishly tall. He wore an outfit similar to Craig's, with a white lab coat, and a white dress shirt, and an electric blue tie that hung loosely around his neck.

Before he could say anything else, Craig was pulled into a tight hug by the taller man.

"I'd never would've thought I'd see you again," Wheatley exclaimed, his head on top of Craig's.

Craig tried to suppress a smile, but failed.

"It's nice to see you too, you big idiot," He replied, returning the hug.

Wheatley pulled away from the hug and gripped his shoulders, staring at him with that lopsided grin.

"Y'know, you're the only one that I don't mind calling me that," Wheatley said, sighing.

Craig smiled, watching as Wheatley's eyes lit up. He had missed this.

"You tried to save me," Craig stated.

"Yes. Yes I did," Wheatley grinned.

"You could've lived on, left Aperture, worked someplace else,"

"Craig, I thought you to be more important,"

The two silenced, remembering what had happened on that one awful day.

 _October, 1979_

 _Craig sat in a chair, sucking in each breath, trying to imprint the taste of air into his memory. Rick and Kevin sat in the observation deck. Kevin was weeping into his hands, Rick trying to get him to stop. They both looked so… lost. Rick gave him a half-hearted thumbs-up and a shy smile. Craig flashed him a reassuring grin back, trying to tell him that it would be okay without really saying it. Unnamed, faceless scientists prepped for the experiment, not saying a word. Craig glanced at the metal ball that he would live in. It was about one foot in diameter, and had a darkened pink optic in the center. One of the scientists inserted an IV into his left arm and told him to relax. Soon enough, Craig was in a sound sleep._

 _What seemed to be ages later, he awoke to the sound of shouting. The IV had been ripped out of his arm, and he was still in his human body. He felt needles digging into his skull, his hair matted with blood._

" _Sir, you can't do that!"_

 _Craig looked to his right, seeing large hands with long fingers reach up to his head. Immense pain filled his skull, and he gave a cry of agony. He felt tears in the corners of his eyes._

" _You complete and utter MORON!" One of the scientists shouted._

" _I AM NOT A MORON!" A British-sounding voice yelled back._

 _The scientist slammed his fist down onto a large blue button, and a red light flashed around the room._

 _Craig screamed. It all hurt. His body writhed and contorted, only the metal restraints holding him back._

 _Someone grabbed his hand, and pressed their lips to it. Vaguely, he saw Rick pounding on the glass of the observation deck, trying to get to him. Steadily, everything turned a murky gray colour, before that snapped into darkness._

 _Craig awoke in the metal ball. The experiment had succeeded. He wanted to move, but he couldn't. His eye stared forward, seeing a man with dirty blonde hair shaking his lifeless body._

" _Craig! C'mon, don't be dead!" The man cried, tears streaming down his face. "You can't do this to me!"_

 _The man wheeled around to stare at the scientist accusingly._

" _You did this! You killed him! You killed my baby!"_

 _The scientist stared at him._

" _Mr. Johnson will know about your sabotage and homosexuality. I pray for your life," The scientist replied._

 _All Craig could do was watch._

" _Fact: Craig is thankful for the good times that Wheatley had shown him," He rang out, almost by default._

 _The two men stared at the new core, as if they were surprised it was operational._

" _Fact: Craig wants Wheatley to know that he loves him," He continued._

" _Craig? Are you alive?" Wheatley asked._

" _Fact: Craig is not alive. Craig is an artificial intelligence. Fact: Wheatley will soon be like this,"_

" _Unbelievable," The scientist muttered under his breath._

 _Behind his back, the scientist flipped a switch. An alarm rang, and Aperture Science security were soon with them._

" _Take this one to a cell, and put the core on a management rail," he said._

 _He leant over Craig and grinned._

" _You are to call yourself Fact Core. Your name is no longer Craig,"_

 _At this, the two were dragged out of the room before they parted ways, Wheatley shouting apologies and 'I love you's. The guards called him a sick animal, and that was the last they thought they would see of each other._

"I've missed you, love," Wheatley exclaimed, pulling Craig into another tight hug.

"Y-yeah," Craig said, "I missed you too,"

Wheatley pulled him into another hug, for fear of losing him again. He kissed the top of Craig's head, and breathed in. He smelled like shampoo and stale cologne.

The floor shook.

"What was that?" Craig asked, hoping that Wheatley knew more of the subject.

"It was me. The bad, awful version of me. The one on the outside," Wheatley replied, pulling Craig closer.

The soft glow of the white walls dimmed for a fraction of a second, casting murderous shadows over them.

"I'm afraid we're going to have to cut this short, it appears that I am being removed from the central core by force," Wheatley stated, trying to sound mannerly.

The room darkened completely, leaving them in a pitch black area. They found each other's lips in the darkness, trying to make the most of what few minutes they had left.

They stayed like that for what seemed to be an eternity, their lips pressed together, Wheatley bent over slightly, Craig on his toes.

The room began to shake and reality began to leak in.

They pulled away, and simultaneously, they said "I love you,"

They both laughed shyly.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye," Wheatley said, sounding sad.

"Fact: Nothing good ever comes out of goodbye," Craig replied.

"Well, fine then. See you later," Wheatley laughed.

"See you around," Craig agreed.

They stood in each other's arms, waiting for the inevitable end.

Craig disappeared, and Wheatley stumbled, holding nothing but air.

 **Word Count: 1418**


End file.
